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Friday, September 07, 2012

7 Quick Takes: Baby! Hair! Sauce!

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So today, this totally happened:

Zoinks.

First of all, how the heck is my teeny tiny, itty bitty, just born, like, 12 minutes ago baby big enough to sit in the Bumbo already? It's UNPOSSIBLE!

Second of all, I had my back turned and all of a sudden I heard Cecilia saying "Bwess us, oh Ward, in veese vy gifts, which we awe about to weceive..." and then I saw what she was doing and I was all "Jesus, you may offer me my high-five now."

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If you gander at the fb page, you can see another pic of that small pink baby, this time grinning, dimple and all. Trust me- totally worth it!

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Earlier this week I posted a review of some conditioner (deep and moving, yes), but I had no photo of my actual hair. Just me and my erroneous claims that it was no longer like an afghan stitched to my scalp. Because y'all, my family sucks at taking photos. And by "family" I mean children. Mostly because they're, like, children and stuff.

Anyway, you demanding demandersons pointed out this lack of photographic evidence and called me out on my laziness. So, *insert big sigh*, I had to attempt a self portrait of my own head.

This photo is so awkward. And kindly imagine concealer around my eyes. Also, paint me with 3 or 4 extra hours of sleep. Because I had to give you a totally unedited image so it would be all "authentic" and junk. Just focus on the hair. Deep breath...

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See? Told ya!

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Also, do you see the mustard yellow and teal color combo there? How Pinteresty of me. And, totally got those at Goodwill the day of the Beautiful Day. I was just so tired of wearing maternity clothes but none of my regular clothes fit yet and instead of motivating me to actually exercise, they just made me depressed, which drives me to the cabinet to eat the mini m&ms. (Except they're all gone now. Which is probably why I haven't given you a "back in shape after baby" update in a while. Doh.)

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But I finally, finally, finally, just this morning, did day 1 of Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred (on Youtube. No way am I spending my not-so-hard-earned-by-me American dollars just to hear her run her mouth for 26 minutes a day)! She is so freaking annoying it's not even funny. "I hope you know me...." *smug smirk*. WHAPAAAAAH! (that's the sound of me slapping her). I've heard good things about the results, though, so I'm gonna try to stick to it. Try.

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You know what else I tried doing? Making tomato sauce from the 17 bushels of tomatoes out of our garden!

Can I be honest? It's not that delicious, and I don't know what I could have done better. BUT...it was super fun to do. The kids and I mashed the heck out of those things with the food mill, so it was all worth it. And I'm gonna make people eat it anyway, because I'm mean like that.

Well your hair looks great and I may be able to help you with the sauce (tomato, not the other kind... wait, maybe that too.) Tomato sauce practically runs in my veins, being a whole 1/4 Italian and all! You might be able to save it! Save the Tomato Sauce!

I read about the hair the other day and was going to chime in, but got sidetracked. I am a fan of the same conditioner and its shampoo as well. It has helped this pregnant-then-postpartum-twice-in-a-little-over-a-year hair a.lot. Trust me, right now I've got hair issues. Any who...loving that conditioner as well. You are looking very cute, btw!

As for the tomato sauce, not that I'm a saucy connoisseur, but have been dealing with all things tomatoes and gardening for some years...have you tried adding some brown sugar to it? Not much (a short tablespoon to start), but just enough. Even if you don't do it when processing, you can totally just add some when you use it in recipes, etc. I once read that adding a bit of brown sugar helps break down the acidity in the tomatoes. Not sure how valid that is, but now I swear by it when I use my own tomato sauce or spaghetti sauce. Not sure how you feel on the whole sugar issue, but just throwing it out there.

I feel your pain re: Jillian. It's a love-hate thing here... She's soooooo annoying. BUT, she does get results. My kids laugh when I do her "pep talking" along with her. But I have done her workouts so much, I just mute them and turn on some good, butt-kicking music. And only force myself to do her workouts once a week, more than that, and I give myself a gold medal. Or eat a big bowl of ice-cream. ;-). But workouts I really do enjoy and recommend are Ellen Barrett's Slim Sculpt and her Crunch Pilates. And super-cheese-whizzy though it is, Kathy Smith's "Peel Off the Pounds Pilates" is one of my all-time faves, though muting and substituting good sounds is, again, a must. Also, Jennifer Galardi's Dance Off the Inches workouts are fun.

Jillian...just, GAH! So frustrating trying to listen to her talk while also trying to exercise. *sigh* My hubby's schedule has not been ideal, so I have not been running, so I have not been doing anything. I like the Core Secrets videos. Gunner Peterson is really cute AND encouraging. I think Brooke Burke is in some of them. But I didn't buy them with my own money, they were gifted by a mil who likes to order infomercial stuff then not use it. But if I lost them, I would by them again.

1. Mary's already sitting in the Bumbo? Need to get my Scrumplet in one!2. Your hair is glorious and shiny!3. So the tomato sauce recipe I shared wasn't that yummy? Maybe more seasoning? Or something? Says she who's never made tomato sauce from scratch.4. Good luck with the workout and I mean it! Says she who hasn't done a shred of exercise in 2 years.

The 20 minute shred does work. But you have to do it...and it's a looooong 20 min. Good Luck. I saw results after 2 weeks, real results with the more energy and the toning of muscles I never knew I had, etc. I like the girl who is supposed to be doing the "relaxed" or "easy" version. I imagine she and I would be friends. She's a slacker, just like me. ;)

(lastly, I will admit, that after the 3rd or 4th day when your thighs are burning and you just cant do one more minute of the sit-ups (which only last one minute) the encouraging voice of Jillian does help, just a little...)

I swear, I hate to exercise, but the 30 day shred whipped me into shape. I really, really, want to inflict bodily harm on Jillian Michaels every time I do the workout, but then I realize she's in better shape than me. Anyway, I actually talked about it in my last blog post at www.myredrubyslippers.blogspot.com

I love your blog and am glad to have the FB scripture of the day, too! Thanks

The key to getting all of the acidity out of the tomatoes (without adding sugar) is to cook the sauce reeeeeally long.I mean ALL DAY LONG on a simmer. I make pasta sauce with about 20-24 large cans of tomatoes, as well as ground beef, onions, pork neck bones (the secret to a LOT of flavor) and seasonings (my Italian grandmother's recipe). It sounds like a lot of work, but throwing it all together only takes about 30 min. and the rest of it is cooking time. You just have to train the older kids to stir it every time they walk by it and/or smell it so it doesn't burn. You could do the same for a marinara, season it good and cook it LONG.

First time commenter! I have been following you ever since you started talking about separated abs, and you promised some secrets for working on getting them back together, I am still patiently waiting! ;)

I wanted to say I actually did notice the cute color combo before you mentioned it. Yay for Goodwill!

Tomato sauce...I'm a newish gardener too, and yesterday I did this with my tomatoes yesterdayhttp://www.asweetpeachef.com/sauces/roasted-tomato-sauce/DELISH! You should try.

7 - I've always wanted to do that but have been way too lazy and since I don't have a garden it would cost me WAY too much money to buy the amt of tomatoes I would need. Did you put any spices in it? We always put basil, parsley, garlic and onion powder in our sauce...

What did you put in your tomato sauce besides the tomatoes? How did you cook it? I usually begin by sauteing onion and garlic and then cook it for a long time I always make it with wine. I add fresh herbs later in the process and adjust to taste. Sometimes a little vinegar will help too.

Nice hairs! And nice outfit! I've been staying away from pinterest because I end up on there ALL DAY LONG... but I just heard someone lamenting yesterday at a store about how "we're supposed to wear blazers this season". Ugh. Congrats for being 'on trend'. :D I'm trying to work leggings with something this fall, but I fear that I'm 2 years behind.

AND thanks for the tip about youtube (why do I never think of these things?), I'm loathe to spend money on dvds and it's hard to get them from the library. Maybe I'll get on the Shred bandwangon too (again, 2 years after the fact).